Tourism Could be the Next Major Growth Driver in Philippine Economy

The Philippine economy relied mostly from revenues provided by Filipino Overseas Workers (OFWs) and Business-Process Outsourcing (BPO), but the next major growth driver in our economy is no other than the Tourism sector.

David Leechiu, CEO of Leechiu Property Consultants made the bold predictions for the tourism sector of the Philippines. He was quoted as saying "Right now, the Philippine economy is standing on two strong legs: the BPO revenue and overseas Filipinos, tourism potential is the third strong leg that can be developed in a very short time frame." Leechiu stated.

Based upon the report provided by the Department of Tourism (DOT), in the first half of 2016 the country recorded more than 44 million tourist arrivals. Out of the 44 million tourists, 92 percent or 40.4 million are domestic travelers while the remaining 8 percent or 3.6 million, belonged to the international communities.

Records shows that our neighbor South Korea remained as the country's largest tourism market followed by the United States, China, Japan and Australia. The South Koreans are also considered as the top tourist spender in the Philippines since the year 2010.

The tourism department made an estimates that the international visitors in the Philippines spent P148.65 billion in the first half of 2016.

Leechiu Property Consultants also noted that the Philippines should expect a huge growth in the arrival of Chinese tourist this year as the country expect a huge growth in the arrival of Chinese tourists this year.

The consultants also added that under the Duterte administration, there will be an increase in Chinese tourism since China and the Philippines has strengthened the ties between the two countries.

Last June 21 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the China Natioanl Tourism Administration to enhance travel and tourism between the two nations.